Welcome to a new weekly general thread! That means it is time for Monday. Or, is it the other way around? In any case, feel free to use this thread to ask questions, ask for recommendations, or any other general discussion topic you please. May the manga be with you!
Like normal, please be careful with spoilers. I wrote a guide about spoilers in case you need a refresher on how to handle them (also linked in the sidebar).
So I wandered in from /all and was just curious where you’d recommend starting if you’ve never really read manga before.
I’ve never really been able to get into comic books, though I’ve read Sandman and a few other graphic novels with mixed results. I’m vaguely curious if manga would take for me in a way comic books might not.
Anyone have any recommendations for an absolute newbie?
This is a really tough question to answer. Manga (and Korean manhwa) do have a lot more volume and variety of series that are published in my experience compared to Western graphic novels and comics. However, because of that, every type of story that exists in fiction is represented in some way within the genre. So, if you decide to try out a manga, but don’t connect with it in a couple chapters, I would just quickly move on. Don’t get bogged down in a series that you don’t click with very quickly as there are so many fish in the proverbial sea.
The easy place to start is if you have any anime that you have watched and liked, there are likely lots of manga that are similar to that. Usually, only the most popular manga/novels get an anime adaptation, but for every one that gets adapted, there are loads more that never make the leap off the page.
Below I have made some broad suggestions that I have liked over the years. I suggest reading synopses and picking out series that sound interesting to you. To help ease the barrier to entry, I only chose series which are available on mangadex. Many of them have anime adaptations as well if that seems like a simpler way to consume them.
Romcom
Fantasy
Harem (Yes, this is a whole separate genre from other romance)
Slice of Life (Often some crossover with Romance)
Action (I don’t read too many of these tbh)
Isekai (this is a very broad genre, here are just a couple different types)
Villianess/Otome
There are many other types of series out there just like you would see in other mediums as well (mystery, drama, etc.). Feel free to lurk and check out series that people post and catch up if a synopsis catches your attention.
Okay, so I started Sousou no Frieren. I didn’t expect to be kicked in the emotional “vulnerables” right out the gate.
My god, how could no one warn me.
In all seriousness, what a great start. Not what I expected at all and really enjoyable. Thanks for the recommendation.
Oh no! I finished the second one and it hit even harder. Are they all going to be emotional powerhouses?!
What have you gotten me into?!
Oh man, you chose a great series to start. Frieren has been one of my favorite manga…ever. It is still being published too, so once you get caught up, you can join us in the new chapter threads! Also, the anime’s first season is airing right now and is similarly excellent. Truly just an incredible story no matter what medium you consume it in.
That’s really cool, I’ve never really followed media as it’s released, but getting to participate in the discussion around it sounds amazing. I’m looking forward to it and thanks for the suggestions and help.
Thanks so much, for the starting ideas!
I would have known it would be best to provide some anime I’ve enjoyed. I have some experience with anime and One Punch Man is one I’ve very much enjoyed. I also liked Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Spy X Family. Obviously anything from Studio Ghibli is a delight. I discovered Your Name. recently and found it to be charming and delightful.
Is there a best way to read these on iOS? Just use Safari and Mangadex?
I’m not on iOS but two apps I’ve seen mentioned for it were Aidoku and Paperback.
Can’t tell you much about them other than they do have MangaDex support based on a quick research.
Just as an FYI, Aidoku requires a subscription to guarantee a spot in their TestFlight.
Paperback no longer directly connects to MangaDex without third party support and the third party guy just announced he won’t be developing for iOS anymore.
I very much appreciate your response, just want to make sure future readers have appropriate expectations.
Ah, I see. Thanks for coming back with an update!
I hope you’ll find a decent way to read.
Thanks! That’ll be great!
Similar to the other answer you got, I don’t use iOS, so I can’t speak for what apps are available. Pretty much all the Android users are going to be using some fork of the mihon app (formerly called tachiyomi).
However, I do know that mangadex, the website, can be installed as a PWA. So, if you have an account on the site and track your library through mangadex, then the pwa route may work nice.
That’s a good suggestion and it’s a feature I rarely use, so I wouldn’t have thought of it.
EDIT: This ended up being the best solution. Thanks so much.